Flick, Romeu, Victor, Olmo, Roebuck… there have been plenty of high-profile new arrivals at FC Barcelona in recent months, and today, (Thursday 22nd August) a new supporter is announced to join the masses of fans out there. That supporter is Human Mobile Devices (HMD), a European mobile phone innovator that prides itself on doing things differently – a trait made abundantly clear in the new partnership reveal.
Dropping on the Human Mobile Devices (HMD) and FC Barcelona social channels, the partnership reveal video sees Lamine Yamal’s hairdresser, Saul Peregrina, shave the world-famous FC Barcelona crest next to the Human Mobile Devices (HMD) logo in back of the culer’s head to announce a three-year partnership deal, and it also gives a sneak peek of a Human Mobile Devices smartphone, HMD Skyline in Blue Topaz. The intricate artwork took two hours to complete.
Saul Peregrina, hairdresser to the stars, recently cut Lamine Yamal’s hair and the La Masia graduate’s reaction video on TikTok has clocked up 7.5 million views. This time Human Mobile Devices (HMD) put fan Iñigo in Saul’s barber seat to recreate a stunning piece of shaved art combining the two brands logos.
Sure to cause a stir on social media, the fan-led short film focuses on a young 20-something male Barca fan, who in true Catalonian style, steps into a traditional neighbourhood Barber Shop to have his hair cut and talk all things football.
Dressed in relaxed jeans and the new FC Barcelona home shirt, the young man shows the barber a picture as if to say ‘this is what I want’, before the barber – Saul Peregrina – intricately gets to work with his clippers. After a series of close-up shots, the camera pans out to reveal the finished ‘do’ which shows the Human Mobile Devices (HMD) logo and FC Barcelona crest shaved into the back of the young man’s head.
The barber holds up a mirror to show off his handywork and the young man gives a nod of approval before they both take out their HMD Skyline smartphones and take selfies to share with their friends.
The initial three-year deal, which sees Human Mobile Devices (HMD) become a Global Partner of FC Barcelona and Official Mobile Phone Partner of FC Barcelona, is designed to raise awareness of Human Mobile Devices (HMD) – a company not yet 10 years-old but already Europe’s largest manufacturer of smartphones – primarily through digital advertising opportunities at the Olympic Stadium and then at the Spotify Camp Nou when it reopens later in the season. The partnership between the two brands extends beyond football as it will cover the FC Barcelona basketball, futsal, handball and roller hockey teams too.
Commenting on the announcement of the partnership, Lars Silberbauer, Global Chief Marketing Office at Human Mobile Devices (HMD), said;
“When it comes to creativity and innovation in sport you simply cannot look past FC Barcelona. The club has always championed fresh thinking, beauty, and flair, and we have the same mindset when it comes to technology. And just like FC Barcelona brings people together – it’s more than a club obviously – we’re the same. Every device we make is designed to enhance people’s lives and build connectivity. I’ve been a FC Barcelona fan for a long time, ever since Michael Laudrup joined the club back in 1989. I’m still a fan, and pleased to announce HMD as a supporter too. We can’t wait to work with the club, and the culers, to do some amazing things together.”
Away from the stadiums, Human Mobile Devices (HMD) will have a significant presence across FC Barcelona’s digital platforms (which at last count numbered 468 million) and over the course of the coming months and years the two brands will collaborate on a number of impressive digital-first content pieces to excite fans and keep partnership visibility levels high.
Juli Guiu, vice-president of the FC Barcelona Marketing Area, comments:
“We are very proud to take a new step forward in our commercial strategy by incorporating the HMD company as a new Global Partner. We feel very aligned with them in terms of brand values because theirs is an honest, transparent vision of technology that makes a priority of waste disposal and responsible use, with special consideration for the welfare of future generations. HMD and Barça are, from now on, two brands that go hand in hand from the present but looking to the future.”
HMD Skyline in Blue Topaz – a new era of smartphone design that you can repair at home
Human Mobile devices (HMD) is known for its human-first, innovative and fun-packed devices; from creating dumbphones to give people a digital break, to unveiling beautiful repairable smartphones including HMD Skyline – a 5G¹ smartphone now in an all-new Blue Topaz colour that stars in the FC Barcelona reveal.
The short film reveals the all-new Blue Topaz HMD Skyline. The HMD Skyline was released worldwide on July 18th in Neon Pink and Twisted Black and is now available in Blue Topaz. HMD Skyline is a premium handset that has been developed for the creators. It has a 108 MP camera and 50 MP selfie camera, great for capturing epic shots. It merges remarkable functionality with unrivalled repairability² and cutting-edge design, and costs just £399 for the 8/128GB version and £499 for the 12/256GB version.
The new blue version, available from hmd.com from August 22, 2024, comes with new Detox Mode later this year to keep the notifications at bay during game time. The new Detox Mode will allows users to disable all social media platforms and applications, and stop scrolling.
